Saudi to open first financial center with unified policies
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Chairman of the Steering Committee at the Ministry of Finance Abdul Aziz Al-Furaih said on Tuesday that the kingdom is poised to open the first financial center based on an integrated system of unified and harmonized standards and policies at the national level. This is considered a major step that would bolster the efficiency of the government’s financial and accounting performance, he said.
Al-Furaih made the remarks while opening the Leadership Forum for the Transformation to Accrual Accounting organized by the ministry of finance in Riyadh on Tuesday. He said that switching to the accrual basis of accounting in its form and subject matter provides benefits and returns that exceed the time and effort invested. He indicated that converting the entity and issuing its financial reports, according to the new system, provides accurate and comprehensive financial information that supports decision-making. “It also enables performance evaluation, setting targets and accountability, objectivity, and other benefits that improve the capabilities of the entity and the system in all financial and economic fields,” he said.
Al-Furaih also highlighted the most prominent achievements of the transformation which includes issuing more than 190 opening balance lists for the year 2022, equivalent to 95 percent of the target in the number of lists, and more than 180 transitional financial lists for the same year, which constitutes 90 percent of the target.
In addition to the number of known assets with the greatest value reaching more than two million assets, in addition to the kingdom’s selection for international representation within the “International Accounting Standards Board” in the public sector and in the work teams associated with it.
Al-Furaih underlined that the transformation achievements that have been made are a first step that will be followed by inevitable steps to confirm the sustainability of business on an accrual basis and enhance the gains achieved. Deputy Minister of Finance for Financial Affairs and Accounts Hamad Al-Kanhal said that the shift to the accrual basis is one of the Vision 2030 initiatives, which is a strategic national project that achieves many goals and benefits, and constitutes the appropriate basis for building financial information that supports the official in decision-making.
He pointed out that the Accounting Merit Pioneers program is one of the transformation management tools that was launched at the Merit Center to support and create competitiveness among government agencies with the aim of stimulating and accelerating the transformation work in these entities and achieving them with the appropriate quality and time.
Abdullah Al-Mahathal, head of the Accounting Entitlement Center, confirmed that the meeting comes within the process of change of management and culminates in the progress achieved by government agencies in the program of transformation to accrual-based accounting at all levels. He noted the necessity of business sustainability to preserve the gains that were achieved in the past.